trodrig

This weekend started off innocently enough with my wife having to work Saturday and me wanting to go to the match at The Bullet Hole in San Antonio to get in a little practice before Double Tap next weekend. Of course, we didn't want to leave our daughter at home all day alone so she tagged along with me to watch the match. She thought the whole thing was really cool! (duh!) We've been talking for awhile now about getting a .22 for her and my wife to start shooting with regularly but just haven't done it. Well,on the way home from San Antonio, we stopped off at Sportsman's Warehouse to take a look around. I was hoping to pick up some N350 or 3N38 to try out, but, of course, they didn't have any in stock. However, they DID have a Ruger 22/45 in stock for $259 bucks that I started looking at. The whole time we were at the counter my daughter kept whispering "Let's buy it today! Let's buy it today!". Given her enthusiasm I said what the heck and snatched it up! We all went out to the ranch today for Easter and between the two of them they ran a couple hundred rounds through it in no time! They were both hitting A's and dinging 12" steel at 10 yards having a great time! It's really awesome to finally get them started! Hopefully they'll be joining me at some steel matches in the not too distant future! They're both already asking, "So, when can we get that purple barrel from Tactical Solutions?"! I may have created monsters!! Trodrig

Awesome! I'm really glad she got the gun back! Trodrig

If it's in San Antonio I'd like to attend as well! Trodrig

Any more room? I'd like to join ya'll! Trodrig

I like Longshot for major. I'm using 8.0 grains with 115gr MG's. I'm using 5 grains of N320 with the same bullet for minor steel loads. Trodrig

I'd check the extractor tension as well. Also, check to make sure the extractor isn't "clocking". In other words, when the extractor is installed, make sure you can't rotate it at all in the slide. You might need to fit a new firing pin stop to eliminate this if present. At least, that's what fixed mine! Good luck! Trodrig

Finally got around to trying some loads that I made up with the Lee U-die. What a difference! No jams, no bullet set back! Much better performance than before! Xre suggested that the bullet setback was absorbing some of the spring energy and preventing the slide from going fully to battery. I think that was right on the money! Thanks again to everyone! Trodrig

VERY cool!! Trodrig

If you don't mind a little bit of smoke, 200grain laser cast SWC's with about 3.9 grains of Clays and a WLP primer will do well. This is what I'm going back to in my Kimber whenever I start to shoot it again. Trodrig

j2fast's pic looks exactly like what I was trying to describe in my original post. However, the set screw ideal looks really cool. I'm gonna have to give that a try! Trodrig

What I did to help with this is place a piece of velcro on the inside of the mag pouch carrier that will adhere to the inner belt. Does that make sense? Let me know, if not, I can take a picture and attach it. Basically when you attach the outer belt to the inner, the velcro will hold the mag pouches in place. They wobble a little but not nearly as much as without it. Trodrig

It took 9.1grains of 4756 with 115 MG's to make major in my Trubore. I only shot a few with this combo but it seemed real clean. Accuracy was pretty good too. Trodrig

Yup, sizer is set up correctly. I backed off on how much I belled the case and I can still push the bullet in by hand. It's harder than it was before adjusting the bell, but still too easy. Chambering some dummies still results in a few thousands setback, especially with a full mag. I'm guessing I never ran into this before because up until now I've been shooting nothing but brand new brass. With my once fired brass, after sizing I can slide the powder funnel in and out of the case by hand which leads me to believe it's not being sized down nearly enough! Trodrig

Thanks folks! I think my problem is the powder funnel. Loaded rounds are pretty easy to push the bullet back by pressing against the bench. Shooting this batch of rounds yesterday produced a ton of malfunctions with the slide not fully into battery. Almost every one of the rounds that malfunctioned had some bullet setback. I did change to a different powder funnel so I'm pretty sure that's the issue. I'm gonna change it back today and see if I can make some improvements! Thanks, Trodrig

Wow! Yoshidaex, are you loading 1.165" in 38SC? If that's the case, I guess at 1.24" I've got some margin with respect to safety but I still don't like the lack of uniformity. Checked the length of the cases and they don't deviate much from the rest of my batch of brass. I can't say I didn't pick up anyone else's brass from the range but I think most of what I have has only been fired in my gun. I visually inspected and they are all Starline. The dies all look pretty clean but before I load again I'll disassemble them and wipe'em down just to make 100% sure. Any other ideas? Should I go ahead and get the U-die just to add a little extra neck tension? Thanks, Trodrig

In the process of cranking out a couple hundred rounds this evening I noticed about 6 rounds out of 200 that had WILDLY shorter OAL compared to the rest of the bunch. Target was 1.240" and these six were in the 1.200" range!! After seeing the first one, I mic'ed all 200 rounds...which sucked I must say!! I'm glad I did though cause it wasn't just a single fluke! Here are the conditions: Starline 38 super comp brass once fired in my gun Dillon 650 press Dillon Sizer die Redding Comp. seater die Dillon crimp die 115gr JHP MG bullet Load is 8gr Longshot with WSR primers. Could it be that the Dillon sizer die is not compressing the once fired brass enough and when the loaded round tumbles down into the box that I'm getting a little bit of set back? Any other ideas on what might be causing this? I'm gonna load another batch soon and see if I have the same intermittent issue but I just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions. Thanks a bunch! Trodrig

I got a room at the Quality Inn. 160 for Friday and Saturday night. Trodrig

MAN I wish I could've made it out! I haven't shot a match since before Christmas! Between work, car troubles, getting the house ready to sell, and building a new house, weekends have just been NUTZ!! Hope to make it out next month though! Trodrig

I also went with a Dawson tuned Trubore to start with in open. The gun has run well so far. I had it hard chromed 1st thing but if I had it all to do over again I think I'd hold off on the chrome for awhile. Trodrig

Damn that's a pretty gun Dave!! Very nice!! Trodrig

Thanks for the info! Since this is for steel and I don't need to worry about making major, I guess worrying about SD is really not that high of a priority. I'll just focus on the accuracy. Thanks! Trodrig

Thanks guys! I may also try running some loads over the chrono with 5.1 and 5.2 grains to see how they are in comparison. I do enjoy tinkering! Thanks, Trodrig

So, in trying to get a better steel load together I tested out some rounds today with 5.0grains of N320 behind an MG 115 JHP at 1.235" OAL using once fired Starline 38SC brass. Accuracy was AWESOME but the chrono showed an SD of ~30 and an ES of ~90!! Power factor was around 135. What do ya'll think? Should I work up a little higher and see if the velocity distribution tightens up some? Or, since the accuracy was good, should I just run with it? Thanks, Trodrig

I'm printing out my entry form and sending it off this weekend! This'll be my first major match!! Can't wait to meet some more of the folks from the forum! Trodrig

As I understand it, the 121 is basically the same as the 115 hollow point with the hollow cavity filled in. The base does not have exposed lead. Trodrig